Chapter 36: RockRock: Music of Rebellion

Antecedents of Rock

• Rhythm and Blues

– Descended from a laid-back, riff-based bluesy swing

– Small rhythm section (piano, guitar, bass, and drums) accompany a few saxophones and other “horns”

– Unambiguous duple meter

– 12-bar blues over a walking bass style called boogie woogie

Rock and Roll

• Term coined by pioneering radio disk jockey Alan Freed (1921-1965)

• Music disseminated through radio broadcasts

• Freed’s broadcast’s were replayed in Europe

• “Rocking and Rolling”: old nautical term referring to the motion of boats– Term applied to movements

during religious ecstasy and dance

• Elvis Presley (1935-1977)– Career began performing “hillbilly music,” singing

gospel music in church, and listening to blues and jazz in the black neighborhood of Memphis

– Combined genres of indigenous American black and white rural music

– 149 songs appeared on Billboard’s “Hot 100 Pop Chart”

– 1956 recording and TV performance of “Hound Dog”

– Movie roles

• Buddy Holly (and the Crickets)– 12-bar blues without the blue notes

– Twangy guitar strumming and snareless locomotive drumming

• Pat Boone, “Fats” Domino, “Little Richard” Penniman

Rock• The Beatles (1960-1970): John Lennon, Paul

McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr– Performance on The Ed Sullivan Show February 9, 1964

had profound effect on music and culture – Developed an unprecedented ability to create original,

fresh sounds with radical experimentation in both songwriting and studio recording

– Thematically unified concept album: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

British Invasion • The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Cream• Harder edge• Lengthy instrumental improvisations• Guitar Riff: An improvisatory flourish that becomes a

motive• Rhythmic ostinato– The Stone’s “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” (1965)

• Use of 12-bar blues– Cream’s “Crossroads” (1969)• Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970): The most original,

influential rock guitarist– Wide range in harmonic variety– Expanded range of the amplified guitar, creating an

assortment of noises, vocal effects, and electronic sounds

Soul, Motown, and Funk• Stemmed from the political, social, and economical

circumstances of black American during the 1950’s and 1960’s

• Motown– Stax record label (Memphis)– Motown Records (Detroit) founded by Berry Gordy– Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The

Temptations, the Four Tops• Soul– Gospel-rooted style – Musical complexity found in the arrangements and

musicianship– Spontaneity and improvisation in live performances– Ray Charles

• Funk– Invented by “Godfather of Soul” James Brown

– Blend of soul, jazz, and R&B

– Brought black Pentecostal preaching, shouting, and freec conversational manner to pop music

Punk and New Wave• Punk Rock– Highly politicized style, mid-1970’s

– Fast, hard-edged music with short, simple songs

– Musical escapism with a self-destructive and nihilistic approach

– Basic verse-and-chorus form of earlier pop

– Crude amplified sounds, fast driving rhythms, unassuming timbres, simple harmonies

– The Ramones (1976), the Sex Pistols (1977)

– The Clash combined punk aesthetic with Jamaican music (1979)

– Helped renovate rock back to its working-class, garage band roots

Metal• Introduction of the powerchord by the Kinks in “You

Really Got Me” and “All the Day and All the Night”– Triad lacking the major or minor third

• Sliding of chords along the neck of the instrument in parallet motion

• Early 1970’s: Louder, chordal sound and high volume

• Surrealistic themes, paranoid delusions, and dark, dreary subjects; Adolescent angst

• Deep Purple and Black Sabbath

• Late 1980’s: Fresh sound of Metallica

Rap• Originated as an African American style in the early

1970’s in New York’s South Bronx• DJ Kool Herc (Jamaican-born Clive Campbell)

developed imitation of Jamaican practice of using “sound systems’’ to play music at parties– Isolated choice portions of the tracks (the “break” and

created loops and extended portions using two term tables• “Break dancing”

– MC (Master of Ceremonies) and DJ• The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”: First

recording with the work rap in the title• Run DMC: First rap artists to achieved major

commercial success• Novel and authentic sound whose broad appeal crossed

racial and social boundaries

Grunge• Generation X: Born around 1975

• Dark, brooding, introspective songs first arose in and around Seattle

• A type of alternative rock inspired by punk

• Kurt Cobain and Nirvana: Nevermind (1991)– Wide mix of rock and pop styles

– Absurdist lyrics

– “Smells Like Teen Spirit”: “A teen revolutionary song”